Housing Solutions for the Downtown Eastside

In October of 2006, pivot legal society challenged postsecondary students in planning, geography and political science departments of universities across Canada to write an essay on how to solve the homelessness crisis in Vancouver. The parameters were simple: don’t displace the existing community; provide high-quality accommodation; look to models from other jurisdictions; think outside the box.

The essays in this report are the three best of the many submissions received in answer to this challenge. They canvass just some of the countless mechanisms through which our governments, most frequently our local government, could cover the costs of building new low-income rental housing and solve our homelessness crisis.